Heavy Automatic Shotgun (Abzats)
The Heavy Automatic Shotgun or Abzats, is a makeshift heavy automatic shotgun and a powerful addition to Artyom's arsenal. It is the single most powerful non-explosive weapon in the games, in terms of concentrated damage and is a fairly innovative design. It looks like a cut down version of the DShK 12.7mm Machinegun, which it is made from, and it is rechambered for shotgun shells. The barrel is cut short, the grips are adjusted and added for use as a man-portable weapon, it also maintains its original sighting mechanism. The weapon is only made available in game by purchasing the Ranger Pack for Metro 2033 or the Metro: Last Light Season Pass. Overview After the war, Andrew the Blacksmith obtained a wide variety of old pre-war guns, that were in a barely-serviceable condition, and set about making them useful in some fashion or another. One of these projects was on finding a use for the DShK 12.7mm Machinegun, which, being quite old, was comparatively easy to come by in the industrial areas above-ground. As the DShK's 12.7x108mm rounds are extremely hard to come by, the wily smith went about refitting the barrel to accept shotgun shells. Very little needed to be actually changed for the Abzats - with the gun already designed for a very large, powerful round, he did not need to make big changes to the firing mechanism to accept smaller shotgun shells. The end result was a powerful close-combat weapon, well-suited for handling the biggest of threats found in the Metro, especially against hordes of mutants. Unfortunately, the design was also beyond expensive and quite bulky, ensuring that only a few in the Metro could actually afford them, and that other designs remained more popular. The weapon itself also had problems - as its machinegun parent, it is extremely heavy, weighing in at over 20 pounds, even with numerous steps taken to reduce weight being made. Tactics and Use 350px|right The Abzats is the most powerful weapon in terms of concentrated damage in the game; no enemy can take a full belt of ammo from it, even with less-than-optimal hits, and survive. Its huge max ammo capacity gives it a great advantage over the Uboinik/Shambler and Duplet, and its rapid fire rate overpowers the advantages of the bayonet attachment and rapid follow-up shot ability of the Uboinik/Shambler or Saiga-12. This awesome power makes the Abzats the best shotgun as long as you have the right amount of skill and ammunition. Its alternate fire varies between allowing the player to fire the gun in a controlled semi-automatic fashion, allows it to maintain its accuracy and ammunition (Metro 2033), or a burst fire of 6 shells at once, giving immense firepower, but a cool-down period afterwards (Metro: Last Light). The Abzats has more than a few drawbacks, however. First and foremost, it is the weakest shotgun in terms of single-shot damage, dealing somewhat less than the Uboinik/Shambler or Duplet per shot. Second, it has the shortest effective range of any shotgun, with an extremely wide and variable scatter pattern. While it does not spray quite as wide as the Duplet, the Duplet somewhat makes up for this with area-saturation when fired with both barrels; this is an advantage that the Abzats lacks. The Abzats can make up for this with rapid fire or six shell attack, and its large ammo capacity helps this and allows it to barely beat out the Uboinik/Shambler in terms of Damage Per Second at just about any range. The biggest weakness of all, however, is that the Abzats is a bullet-hose - it eats through shotgun shells about as fast as the Kalash 2012 consumes 5.45mm rounds; with an ammo type as expensive as shotgun shells, it is an expensive investment. While the Abzats offers unrivaled punch at close-range, it must be used effectively and carefully, or it will quickly suck your supply of shotgun shells dry - and without those, the Abzats is dead weight. You should conserve the shotgun ammo you find and collect them as much as possible throughout the game - do not trade them for MGRs if you want to use this weapon. If you are playing Ranger difficulties, with no crosshair, you should use this weapon while you are facing multiple enemies at close range, otherwise, you will most likely waste your ammo. Even if you don't intend to use it, the Abzats is worth obtaining; you can sell it; exchanging it for a Duplet nets you 58 military-grade rounds, then going back to Andrew's room and picking up the gun you exchanged for the Abzats. You can also use it as a trade-in towards other guns you may want that are available at Armory or Hole stations, or the trader at the end of Quarantine; it lowers the cost of the Helsing, with a scope, in Armory to a very reasonable 82 MGR. In Metro: Last Light, it is still an incredibly powerful weapon, although it is now semi-automatic by default. It can be upgraded with: a muzzle brake, which reduces recoil; an autofire adapter, which allows the Abzats to fire full auto and increases rate of fire; a laser sight to aid accuracy; an extended ammo box, which doubles its capacity. If you are playing on Ranger difficulties, make sure you add laser sight to maintain accuracy when firing from the hip. Attachments *Muzzle Brake *Autofire adapter *Laser sight *Extended magazine Variants and Obtaining Metro 2033 The Heavy Automatic Shotgun is a promotional weapon, requiring a download code to obtain. Once the code is redeemed, there are several chances to obtain the weapon. Note that for the weapon to appear, you will need to be logged into Xbox Live. You can, however, obtain the shotgun, disconnect, and load the save, and still have it in your inventory. The code could be obtained through pre-ordering the game or getting the "Special Edition" from Gamestop. PC gamers who have bought the game through Valve's Steam service will find that the weapon is included in the purchase as it counts as part of the free DLC. Metro Last Light The Abzats is a promotional weapon that requires the player to have purchased the Season Pass in order to appear. * Can be taken from the armory in D6 for free, though it will be lost after Ashes unless playing on Ranger difficulties. * The only one found, not bought, is found in Undercity, near the door that uses a wooden crank to open, and makes short work of the nearby Nosalis horde. * One can be bought in the Depot level, costing 200 MGRs on Hardcore. * One can be obtained at the end of the game in D6 for free. Related Achievements Trivia * The Heavy Automatic Shotgun, like the VSV, is an example of a successful pre-war design becoming an even-more successful post-war design. * If left idle with it equipped for a while, Artyom will play around with the weapon's grips and stock. * This weapon, like all other shotguns in Metro 2033 and the Duplet in Last Light, can only be shot from the hip, which makes it hard to aim on Ranger difficulties. However, this should not be a problem when dealing with mutants as it can tear them down easily. Consider attaching a laser sight to aid accuracy. * Such a weapon would be too heavy for someone to carry with a combat load. If this weapon were to be used, it would have to be the one and only weapon a person could carry. However, it is possible that the weapon is held by the user with support of a load bearing vest or rig. * The word abzats (абзац) actually means "paragraph", but in slang its meaning is "Wow!" or "Oh crap!" - both applicable to this weapon. * In the Redemption ending of Metro: Last Light, a Red Line heavy soldier is seen wielding the Abzats. * The Abzats is the most valuable shotgun in game, worth about 200 MGRs. * The Heavy Automatic Shotgun is a shotgun counterpart of Gatling. * This is a great weapon to use against librarians as its high damage at close range often kills them in a few shots to the head or chest in full auto. Sources *http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/metro-last-light-dlc-season-pass-announced Category:Weapons Category:DLC Category:Developer Pack DLC